News
European credit quality falls steeply in 2001, says Moody's
Credit rating downgrades outnumbered upgrades by more than two-to-one for corporations and governments outside the US during 2001, according to international rating agency Moody's – a complete reversal on 2000, when upgrades exceeded downgrades by a more…
Israeli exchange upgrades contingency plans
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (Tase) has upgraded its contingency facilities for trading and clearing to ensure that in the event of an emergency, such as a terrorist attack on the main exchange, systems should continue to function as normal.
Sound practices paper gets positive response
Bankers generally responded positively to the guidance on sound practices for managing operational risk issued by global banking regulators in December.
FASB: loan commitments must be treated like derivatives
The US Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) ruled last month that some unfunded loan commitments made by banks should be treated like derivatives and marked-to-market. The ruling came nearly nine months after Goldman Sachs first proposed the…
European timetable threatened by CP3 delay
The European Union's timetable for bringing new risk-based bank capital adequacy rules into effect is in jeopardy following the decision of global banking regulators to delay publication of a key consultative paper.
Canada's Le Pan heads Basel advisory group
Nicholas Le Pan, superintendent of financial institutions in Canada, will lead a group that will help banking supervisors share information and approaches related to the coming into effect of the Basel II bank capital adequacy accord.
FSA's new rules turn up heat on risk managers
The UK’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) has caused a stir in the upper ranks of London-based investment banks with new rules that effectively force senior executives to accept unlimited liability for risk management errors.
Currenex and XRT unveil joint venture
Currenex, the online global currency exchange, and French-based financial services vendor, XRT, have agreed a deal that will see Currenex integrate its online forex platform with XRT’s collaborative treasury management (CTM) solutions.
Schroders goes the Globus route with Temenos
UK-headquartered Schroders Private Bank, a subsidiary of the Schroder Group, plans to roll out Globus, an integrated financial services application developed by Swiss-based software vendor, Temenos.
ABN Amro expands forex strategy team
Dutch bank ABN Amro is expanding its London foreign exchange strategy team by hiring Aziz McMahon, formerly a treasury economist with Ulster Bank, as a forex strategist.
JP Morgan accuses WestLB on $165m Enron swap
JP Morgan Chase has accused WestLB of failing to make payment on a $165 million letter of credit (l/c) backing an Enron-related swap. JP Morgan Chase made the dispute public, though it did not name West LB, instead merely referring to “a European…
CSFB handed record fine for UK derivatives trades
The Securities and Futures Authority (SFA), a subsidiary of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), has fined investment bank Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) a total of £540,000, for two breaches of its FSA Principle 9 regulatory standard. The amount…
Credit derivatives see six-fold increase in three years
The over-the-counter (OTC) credit derivatives market stood at $694 billion in June, a six-fold increase in the last three years, according to the latest global triennial survey released by the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) today.
Deutsche, UBS Warburg back Rolfe & Nolan
Deutsche Bank and UBS Warburg have agreed to fund the development of the first two modules of Rolfe & Nolan's much-awaited Merlin software suite in return for long-term licensing agreements.
Feder to head Japanese derivatives for Bear Stearns
US investment bank Bear Stearns has appointed Leonard Feder to the newly created position of head of fixed income and derivatives for Japan. Feder will be responsible for the firm’s trading and risk management strategy for Japan, including corporate…
Analysts warned to be wary of the yield-curve
Market participants that use short-term movements in the yield curve as signals of future economic development could be mistaken in their analysis, according to a recent report published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.